Excellent video... always love your experiments and your thoughts over your outcomes. I tried natural eco printing with my art sessions at school and mind you i was successful in many various attempts. Couldn't use high heat except for a water heating jug kept for heating water in the art room at school 😅.. I used hot water here to put on the leave and flowers for sometime to get the colour. Tried the and dye with the attempts❤❤❤ Always i thought of you as my first inspiration . As i had got started only after looking and listening to all your supporting suggestions and your feedback. Thanks always ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
While hibiscus is a 100% natural color, I doubt it would work as a viable hair dye. I've never tried it, so feel free to experiment and let us know if you have success 💕
Hi Sushila - yes, you can absolutely do that 🌺 The hibiscus used for tea may be a different variety from what you have in your garden, so the colors can also vary. I have a few other videos in the library using different kinds of fresh and dried hibiscus, so check those out too if you'd like to see some other results.
I know I’m late to the show but just wanted to know if you are adding the dyes in the mason jars to water and heating it up? How do you know how much water to use? Or are you using the straight dye from the jars?
Never too late for natural dyeing 💕 As my very first video here, I didn't show the process of actually dyeing the textile, but I have many later videos that actually show the full process. The most common way is to put your textile (damp with water first) into the dye when it is heated and simmer it for 1+ hours. You can remove it or let it cool overnight in the dye depending on how deep you want the color. The amount of water in the dye should be enough to move your textile around freely. The strength of the dye is related to the amount of dry dye matter (hibiscus leaves) as a ratio to the weight of your fiber (W.O.F.), not the amount of water itself. Hibiscus tea/leaves are quite potent, so you should be able to dye 2-4 oz of fiber easily with the measurements in this video. If you store it first before you use it, pour it into the dye pot from the mason jar, add enough water so your fiber can move around and heat it up. Easy peasy!
Beautiful! Thanks for your very informative videos. ❤ Please, can you describe - how permanent is the hybisucs dye? Do the different mordants affect the colour fastness? Thanks ☺️
You are most welcome, Kathy - welcome to Color Quest! Hibiscus is known to be fugitive and will fade with time. You can certainly help colors last longer by always pre-treating fiber with a mordant or modifying it with ferrous sulfate which also acts as a mordant. An alum+tannin two-step mordant is a great option for cellulose fibers if you don't want to invest in aluminum acetate. I personally celebrate the ever-changing colors that natural dyes provide, and so permanence is not a goal in my practice 😊
You might be able to find a ground hibiscus leaf or try grinding the tea flowers yourself as one option for a pigment powder. Alternatively, you can turn liquid dye into a pigment powder through a lake pigment process. I have not done this on Color Quest, but you should be able to find tutorials that walk you through this process. It is labor intensive, but a great skill to learn if you work with pigment powders in general.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I have have hibiscus plant in my house . And it flower lot of hibiscus in a day. I'm interested in turning hibiscus flower into dye powder.
@@sivanand4132 Lucky for you to have such a beautiful flowering plant in your garden! Start researching the lake pigment process I mentioned above and test it out with your hibiscus. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Susanta 🌺 Yes, you can use most teas to naturally dye fiber. I have several videos here at Color Quest that look at different teas and their color results. Hope you have time to check them out!
Hi Margaret. I’m doing a hibiscus dye bath now. I’m reading that 160° for dried flower dye baths and for dyeing the fabric is standard. I am afraid to hear the hibiscus too much bc of the red color. AND I want to make sure I actually create a good dye bath and fabric dye. Can you add your wisdom to this info for hibiscus? Should I simmer everything at 160°? Thank you!
Well… I took it out of the dye bath. Rinsed it in cold water. It turned blue grey! So confused! Is my water too alkaline? Should I not have washed it?? Dried it first?? Lost all the beautiful pink color :(
The wood sticks I used for a resist are hot pink though. I scoured the fabric and I used aluminum acetate for a pre mordant. My well water does have a water softener on it which is salt. I added vinegar ti the dye bath as you did in your video. Thank you.
Hi 🌺 I personally don't use a thermometer when I dye, but keeping lower temperatures for longer is always a safe way to go. As a reddish color, hibiscus is going to be more sensitive to heat and can easily turn brown. If you are measuring temp, 160 is a good threshold.
Why do you think it turned blue-ish? Most of the color - pink - washed away when I rinsed it after the dye bath. There’s a little pink and purple where the wooden sticks were used for resistance (though that didn’t actually work on this project). It looks very different than I expected!
@@12lovelight A bluish shift in color typically feels like a reaction to an alkaline. However, if you introduce an alkaline like soda ash to hibiscus, it actually turns more of a grayish brown. I truly don't know what has happened, but it sounds like it is absolutely some kind of chemical reaction based on your specific environment. Rinsing right away or later would not really have made a difference.
Hi Brooklyn! The color I achieved on the fabric in this video was simmered for approximately one hour. However, this was with 100% organic cotton, some of which was pre-treated with a mordant, so it had the best chance of creating a deep pink color. Converse sneakers are a combination of cotton & polyester, plus they've been treated with chemicals, so it may be more difficult for the natural dye color to bond. However, I'm all about experimenting, so I say give it a try! I recommend you wash your shoes first and put them in the a warm dye pot wet. Personally, I would not keep the pot on the stove, but rather let the sneakers soak in the dye as it cools. You can check on them once an hour to see if you like the color, and honestly, you could soak them overnight if you see that the color continues to darken. The color will look darker when it is wet and will lighten as it dries. Also, please know that natural color will interact with its environment and change over time, especially with shoes that are being worn, but I think it's a super cool idea to try out 💕 Best of luck!
Hi there, love your channel. Very grateful to have found it. In case I don’t have dried hibiscus, but do have the actual flowers. How would you suggest going about it? Letting the petals dry, then boiling them like the dried ones? Thanks in advance and lots of blessings for you and your channel.
So happy to have you here - thank you! You can use fresh hibiscus petals for dyeing, but please be careful of the heat. You will want to keep it to a simmer, not boiling, and watch it carefully on the stove. It can turn from pink to brown if it gets too hot or cooks too long. A slow rise in temperature is always best. You can see how it looks after 30 minutes and leave the petals in the dye as it cools to potentially draw out more color. You can also freeze or dry your petals to use for the future 💕 Best of luck!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thank you so much for your quick and kind reply! I’ll surely give it a try! One other question; if I’d like to use it to colour soap, when I’d be making soap, I guess I can just use the water after it’s been cooled of a bit? Am very excited to give all experiments a try and hope to give you an update. God bless you and all the best with your channel!
@@vogelinvlucht I have never made soap, but using the dye water sounds like a great experiment. I have used hibiscus dye in my bioplastic sculpture, and although it altered the color, it worked as a natural colorant successfully. Depending on what other materials are used in your soap-making process, you may see the color shift, but that is half the fun of experimentation! Will look forward to hearing how it goes 💕
Hi Constança - the swatches I made for this video have kept their color nicely (filmed 7 months ago), but natural color is living so it will often change over time. You can prolong color of many dyes by pre-treating your fiber with a mordant (alum, tannin or soy milk) and caring for it like you would with delicates - hand wash in cold water, use pH neutral soap and air dry.
Hello, i’ve been watching all your videos on dying. Great info. I’m also a natural dyer. Love the process in everything i do. In your video on hibiscus I was surprised fresh/dried flowers weren’t used? How different is the steps? I’ve been collecting them from several neighbors with plants. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge & calming ways. God bless. Marilyn
So nice to see your name over here too, Marilyn 🌼 Natural dyeing is definitely a passion and very addictive. For this video, I specifically used dried flowers (as well as tea) because I live in the PNW where we don't have fresh hibiscus. If you have fresh, that is wonderful! The process is the same, but you need to be very careful with the heat. It is better to coax out the color without shifting it by using a gentle heat over longer periods of time if needed - don't let it get too hot. I have a video here from my California garden where I used some peach hibiscus blooms that had dropped from my plant which also gave a subtle hue, but the pink blooms can be quite bright. Let me know how it goes from your foraged flowers 🌺
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thank you for sharing your passion. I love learning new things. I’m self taught, so having teachers like you to actually ask question & to see how it’s done has been such a wonderful experience. I live in Florida, so I have such different plants to experiment with. Are you doing or have done lichens? My next journey. You’re a wonderful teacher. Thank you for sharing. God bless, Marilyn Husson
@@marilynhusson6195 Curiosity is the spice of life! Sharing passions creates abundance for all of us. My dream is to travel the world to see all of the diversity of botanicals that can share color with us. Love learning about other climates and the secret rainbows hidden in nature, so enjoy your special nook in FL. Yes, lichen was actually the first organic dye I made for textile and I have a video in the library here on Color Quest about lichen dye - check it out! Thank you for your kind words and for being here at Color Quest 💚
The two ways I show in this video (tea, loose leaf) are both edible, so they could be used as food coloring. I personally would only use petals/tea that have been organically grown and certified as edible, as opposed to picking my own petals from a plant just to be safe if ingesting it.
Hi Bebe - vinegar shifts the pH of water to more acidic and can be used to modify the color of natural dyes that are sensitive to pH. With hibiscus, it can 'brighten' the red you achieve. In the video, you can see how the color changes when the vinegar is added to the dye pot. You do not have to use vinegar, but it is an option to potentially enhance the red color ❤️
Hi Margaret, I’ve just discovered your channel and love it 😍 I watched a few of your videos (dyeing with Black beans, red cabbage, spinach, this one being my favourite so far…) and I've noticed you always store the dye in the fridge. How long can it be kept that way? Is it possible to freeze it?
Welcome to Color Quest - so happy you found us! These first videos are great for getting started in the kitchen studio, and once you are hooked, you will find so many amazing natural dye sources that are true stars 🌠 I store most of my exhaust dyes for many months in my fridge or in a cool place outside. I've had some I've used 1+ years later and even have a video here about it (Exhaust Dyes). You will definitely have mold growth, but can simply remove/strain it out before heating. The color will change, but it just gives a wider palette. I often freeze dye matter itself, so I would imagine freezing dyes is fine. I've had some of my dyes freeze outside and still work wonderfully once they thawed. Experiment and have fun!
Hi. I would love to try this. If I do an alum mordant (or not) do I also need to soak it in salt? And add salt and vinegar to the dye bath to try to make the color last longer. I’m doing a dress which I know is odd since it’s a fugitive color. I just want to try to get the most out of it. Thank you!!
In general with natural dyeing, salt & vinegar are not used as 'mordants'. Salt may be used in some recipes for certain fibers/dyes to help with dye uptake, but mordants are metal 'salts' like alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) or aluminum acetate that allow the natural dye to bind to the fiber. In essence, the metal binds to the fiber and the dye binds to the metal. Vinegar, on the other hand, is used to alter the pH of the dye and modify the color only. Since hibiscus is pH sensitive, I used vinegar in this video to 'brighten' the color a bit. Since you are dyeing a piece of clothing, I strongly urge to follow the 3 step prep: scour/wash your dress with soda ash and go through a full pre-treatment with the most appropriate mordant for the fiber. If it is a cotton dress, aluminum acetate is the best option. If wool/silk, alum is good. Sounds like you are aware that hibiscus will fade with time, but this will keep the color lingering longer. Enjoy!!
Hi Margaret. Thank you very much for replying. So much for a quick project! Lol. Do you find scouring makes clothing rough? Just to be clear.. I have alum powder in the house but alum acetate is a different substance - correct?
@@12lovelight Haha! Time is definitely your friend with natural dyeing and prep is everything 😊 I use naturally dyed fiber for my art practice, not for my wardrobe (yet!), so I have not experienced how scouring might feel on clothes. However, I know professional dyers in the garment industry swear by scouring, so I would assume it is not too rough. Having said that, if you worried about it, I would say simply give it a good wash in the machine. For mordants, if you have alum powder at home, it is most likely aluminum potassium sulfate. Aluminum acetate is a more finely processed version that is the best mordant for cotton. However, you can certainly use alum powder on cotton and it will help with the bond. I just did that with some cotton ribbon and the dye bonded beautifully. I am a big fan of using materials that are easy to access and available already in your home. Let's make this as easy as possible!
Hibiscus is a sensitive dye that has a fugitive quality and will change & fade over time. If you want to work with a more stable color to achieve pinks & reds, you should try an ancient dye source like cochineal.
@@sonalimukhopadhyay2077 I am currently releasing videos on cochineal. You can find them in my library over the past few weeks and will continue with cochineal for the next few weeks. The most important step in working with natural color is properly washing and mordanting your fiber. If you do this, you will have very long lasting color with cochineal.
Great video! But when I try to dye my papers with hibiscus (both tea and dried flowers, alum mordant and no mordant, vinegar), they always turn out blue! Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for watching, Shanti! I wonder if your paper is not pH neutral and has a more alkaline composition? Have you tried testing different papers? I've read that archival & acid-free papers use alkaline compounds to help for longevity, so it is possible your hibiscus is interacting with this since it is also pH sensitive. You could potentially add more vinegar or lemon to your hibiscus dye to push the acidity to see if that makes a difference. It can be somewhat mysterious, so keep experimenting 💕
Hi Asha 🌺 Hibiscus can be very sensitive to light, so it is often considered fugitive. If you want the potential to keep the color longer, you can help by using a mordant on your textile and caring for your fiber as you would with delicates - hand wash in cold water, air dry out of the sun, etc. I have had fiber dyed with plant matter that is considered fugitive where the color has lasted for years. I like to think of natural color as living and breathing, and try to celebrate its ever-changing beauty even as it fades 💗
Excellent video... always love your experiments and your thoughts over your outcomes.
I tried natural eco printing with my art sessions at school and mind you i was successful in many various attempts.
Couldn't use high heat except for a water heating jug kept for heating water in the art room at school 😅.. I used hot water here to put on the leave and flowers for sometime to get the colour. Tried the and dye with the attempts❤❤❤
Always i thought of you as my first inspiration .
As i had got started only after looking and listening to all your supporting suggestions and your feedback.
Thanks always ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This color is just so beautiful! 😍😍
Isn't it gorgeous, Dipti?!? I am going to treasure the dried flowers especially 💕
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Yes! Dried flowers gives the most beautiful prints on fabric! ❤✨
@@diptijain6239 I will have to save some to try that! You have made beautiful prints from petals 🌹
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest Thank you😊😊 I'll definitely try some hibiscus dye soon! ❤✨
@@diptijain6239 Post your results on IG or send me an email so I can see!
Can I use this dye to put it on my hair???
While hibiscus is a 100% natural color, I doubt it would work as a viable hair dye. I've never tried it, so feel free to experiment and let us know if you have success 💕
Hi can I dry fresh hibiscus and use.
Hi Sushila - yes, you can absolutely do that 🌺 The hibiscus used for tea may be a different variety from what you have in your garden, so the colors can also vary. I have a few other videos in the library using different kinds of fresh and dried hibiscus, so check those out too if you'd like to see some other results.
I know I’m late to the show but just wanted to know if you are adding the dyes in the mason jars to water and heating it up? How do you know how much water to use? Or are you using the straight dye from the jars?
Never too late for natural dyeing 💕 As my very first video here, I didn't show the process of actually dyeing the textile, but I have many later videos that actually show the full process. The most common way is to put your textile (damp with water first) into the dye when it is heated and simmer it for 1+ hours. You can remove it or let it cool overnight in the dye depending on how deep you want the color. The amount of water in the dye should be enough to move your textile around freely. The strength of the dye is related to the amount of dry dye matter (hibiscus leaves) as a ratio to the weight of your fiber (W.O.F.), not the amount of water itself. Hibiscus tea/leaves are quite potent, so you should be able to dye 2-4 oz of fiber easily with the measurements in this video. If you store it first before you use it, pour it into the dye pot from the mason jar, add enough water so your fiber can move around and heat it up. Easy peasy!
Hello just the video I needed
Watching from Nigeria
That is music to my ears - thank you! Best of luck with your dye project 💕
Beautiful! Thanks for your very informative videos. ❤ Please, can you describe - how permanent is the hybisucs dye? Do the different mordants affect the colour fastness? Thanks ☺️
You are most welcome, Kathy - welcome to Color Quest! Hibiscus is known to be fugitive and will fade with time. You can certainly help colors last longer by always pre-treating fiber with a mordant or modifying it with ferrous sulfate which also acts as a mordant. An alum+tannin two-step mordant is a great option for cellulose fibers if you don't want to invest in aluminum acetate. I personally celebrate the ever-changing colors that natural dyes provide, and so permanence is not a goal in my practice 😊
Is it possible to extract colour pigment powder from hibiscus?
You might be able to find a ground hibiscus leaf or try grinding the tea flowers yourself as one option for a pigment powder. Alternatively, you can turn liquid dye into a pigment powder through a lake pigment process. I have not done this on Color Quest, but you should be able to find tutorials that walk you through this process. It is labor intensive, but a great skill to learn if you work with pigment powders in general.
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest I have have hibiscus plant in my house . And it flower lot of hibiscus in a day. I'm interested in turning hibiscus flower into dye powder.
@@sivanand4132 Lucky for you to have such a beautiful flowering plant in your garden! Start researching the lake pigment process I mentioned above and test it out with your hibiscus. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Margaret. I have a question . can I use normal CTC TEA/ Leaf Tea instead of Hibiscus tea?
Hi Susanta 🌺 Yes, you can use most teas to naturally dye fiber. I have several videos here at Color Quest that look at different teas and their color results. Hope you have time to check them out!
Hi Margaret. I’m doing a hibiscus dye bath now. I’m reading that 160° for dried flower dye baths and for dyeing the fabric is standard. I am afraid to hear the hibiscus too much bc of the red color. AND I want to make sure I actually create a good dye bath and fabric dye. Can you add your wisdom to this info for hibiscus? Should I simmer everything at 160°? Thank you!
Well… I took it out of the dye bath. Rinsed it in cold water. It turned blue grey! So confused! Is my water too alkaline? Should I not have washed it?? Dried it first?? Lost all the beautiful pink color :(
The wood sticks I used for a resist are hot pink though. I scoured the fabric and I used aluminum acetate for a pre mordant. My well water does have a water softener on it which is salt. I added vinegar ti the dye bath as you did in your video. Thank you.
Hi 🌺 I personally don't use a thermometer when I dye, but keeping lower temperatures for longer is always a safe way to go. As a reddish color, hibiscus is going to be more sensitive to heat and can easily turn brown. If you are measuring temp, 160 is a good threshold.
Why do you think it turned blue-ish? Most of the color - pink - washed away when I rinsed it after the dye bath. There’s a little pink and purple where the wooden sticks were used for resistance (though that didn’t actually work on this project). It looks very different than I expected!
@@12lovelight A bluish shift in color typically feels like a reaction to an alkaline. However, if you introduce an alkaline like soda ash to hibiscus, it actually turns more of a grayish brown. I truly don't know what has happened, but it sounds like it is absolutely some kind of chemical reaction based on your specific environment. Rinsing right away or later would not really have made a difference.
how long do you leave the fabric in? I am thinking about using this method to dye my white converse... is this a good idea?
Hi Brooklyn! The color I achieved on the fabric in this video was simmered for approximately one hour. However, this was with 100% organic cotton, some of which was pre-treated with a mordant, so it had the best chance of creating a deep pink color. Converse sneakers are a combination of cotton & polyester, plus they've been treated with chemicals, so it may be more difficult for the natural dye color to bond. However, I'm all about experimenting, so I say give it a try! I recommend you wash your shoes first and put them in the a warm dye pot wet. Personally, I would not keep the pot on the stove, but rather let the sneakers soak in the dye as it cools. You can check on them once an hour to see if you like the color, and honestly, you could soak them overnight if you see that the color continues to darken. The color will look darker when it is wet and will lighten as it dries. Also, please know that natural color will interact with its environment and change over time, especially with shoes that are being worn, but I think it's a super cool idea to try out 💕 Best of luck!
Hi there, love your channel. Very grateful to have found it. In case I don’t have dried hibiscus, but do have the actual flowers. How would you suggest going about it? Letting the petals dry, then boiling them like the dried ones?
Thanks in advance and lots of blessings for you and your channel.
So happy to have you here - thank you! You can use fresh hibiscus petals for dyeing, but please be careful of the heat. You will want to keep it to a simmer, not boiling, and watch it carefully on the stove. It can turn from pink to brown if it gets too hot or cooks too long. A slow rise in temperature is always best. You can see how it looks after 30 minutes and leave the petals in the dye as it cools to potentially draw out more color. You can also freeze or dry your petals to use for the future 💕 Best of luck!
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest
Thank you so much for your quick and kind reply! I’ll surely give it a try! One other question; if I’d like to use it to colour soap, when I’d be making soap, I guess I can just use the water after it’s been cooled of a bit?
Am very excited to give all experiments a try and hope to give you an update.
God bless you and all the best with your channel!
@@vogelinvlucht I have never made soap, but using the dye water sounds like a great experiment. I have used hibiscus dye in my bioplastic sculpture, and although it altered the color, it worked as a natural colorant successfully. Depending on what other materials are used in your soap-making process, you may see the color shift, but that is half the fun of experimentation! Will look forward to hearing how it goes 💕
How can I dry hibiscus flowers for this process it's so pretty and i have a project I want to imply this there❤❤❤
Thanks
You are welcome!
Love it. For us newbies, can you explain and show mordants.
Yay! Thank you, Anya 💕 Yes, I've already filmed a video on mordants that is in the editing phase. Keep an eye out for it in November 😊
does this dye last on fabric for a very long time?
Hi Constança - the swatches I made for this video have kept their color nicely (filmed 7 months ago), but natural color is living so it will often change over time. You can prolong color of many dyes by pre-treating your fiber with a mordant (alum, tannin or soy milk) and caring for it like you would with delicates - hand wash in cold water, use pH neutral soap and air dry.
Hello, i’ve been watching all your videos on dying. Great info. I’m also a natural dyer. Love the process in everything i do.
In your video on hibiscus I was surprised fresh/dried flowers weren’t used?
How different is the steps? I’ve been collecting them from several neighbors with plants.
Thank you for sharing all your knowledge & calming ways.
God bless. Marilyn
So nice to see your name over here too, Marilyn 🌼 Natural dyeing is definitely a passion and very addictive. For this video, I specifically used dried flowers (as well as tea) because I live in the PNW where we don't have fresh hibiscus. If you have fresh, that is wonderful! The process is the same, but you need to be very careful with the heat. It is better to coax out the color without shifting it by using a gentle heat over longer periods of time if needed - don't let it get too hot. I have a video here from my California garden where I used some peach hibiscus blooms that had dropped from my plant which also gave a subtle hue, but the pink blooms can be quite bright. Let me know how it goes from your foraged flowers 🌺
@@MargaretByrdColorQuest
Thank you for sharing your passion. I love learning new things. I’m self taught, so having
teachers like you to actually ask question & to see how it’s done has been such a wonderful experience.
I live in Florida, so I have such different plants to experiment with. Are you doing or have done
lichens? My next journey.
You’re a wonderful teacher.
Thank you for sharing.
God bless, Marilyn Husson
@@marilynhusson6195 Curiosity is the spice of life! Sharing passions creates abundance for all of us. My dream is to travel the world to see all of the diversity of botanicals that can share color with us. Love learning about other climates and the secret rainbows hidden in nature, so enjoy your special nook in FL. Yes, lichen was actually the first organic dye I made for textile and I have a video in the library here on Color Quest about lichen dye - check it out! Thank you for your kind words and for being here at Color Quest 💚
Can you use it as natural food coloring? Are all types of hibiscus edible (can be safely infused as tea)?
The two ways I show in this video (tea, loose leaf) are both edible, so they could be used as food coloring. I personally would only use petals/tea that have been organically grown and certified as edible, as opposed to picking my own petals from a plant just to be safe if ingesting it.
Can I ask what is the purpose of the vinegar?
Hi Bebe - vinegar shifts the pH of water to more acidic and can be used to modify the color of natural dyes that are sensitive to pH. With hibiscus, it can 'brighten' the red you achieve. In the video, you can see how the color changes when the vinegar is added to the dye pot. You do not have to use vinegar, but it is an option to potentially enhance the red color ❤️
@@loanicastillo3327 So true, Loani, thanks for the tip!
Hi Margaret,
I’ve just discovered your channel and love it 😍
I watched a few of your videos (dyeing with Black beans, red cabbage, spinach, this one being my favourite so far…) and I've noticed you always store the dye in the fridge. How long can it be kept that way? Is it possible to freeze it?
Welcome to Color Quest - so happy you found us! These first videos are great for getting started in the kitchen studio, and once you are hooked, you will find so many amazing natural dye sources that are true stars 🌠 I store most of my exhaust dyes for many months in my fridge or in a cool place outside. I've had some I've used 1+ years later and even have a video here about it (Exhaust Dyes). You will definitely have mold growth, but can simply remove/strain it out before heating. The color will change, but it just gives a wider palette. I often freeze dye matter itself, so I would imagine freezing dyes is fine. I've had some of my dyes freeze outside and still work wonderfully once they thawed. Experiment and have fun!
Hi. I would love to try this. If I do an alum mordant (or not) do I also need to soak it in salt? And add salt and vinegar to the dye bath to try to make the color last longer. I’m doing a dress which I know is odd since it’s a fugitive color. I just want to try to get the most out of it. Thank you!!
In general with natural dyeing, salt & vinegar are not used as 'mordants'. Salt may be used in some recipes for certain fibers/dyes to help with dye uptake, but mordants are metal 'salts' like alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) or aluminum acetate that allow the natural dye to bind to the fiber. In essence, the metal binds to the fiber and the dye binds to the metal. Vinegar, on the other hand, is used to alter the pH of the dye and modify the color only. Since hibiscus is pH sensitive, I used vinegar in this video to 'brighten' the color a bit.
Since you are dyeing a piece of clothing, I strongly urge to follow the 3 step prep: scour/wash your dress with soda ash and go through a full pre-treatment with the most appropriate mordant for the fiber. If it is a cotton dress, aluminum acetate is the best option. If wool/silk, alum is good. Sounds like you are aware that hibiscus will fade with time, but this will keep the color lingering longer. Enjoy!!
Hi Margaret. Thank you very much for replying. So much for a quick project! Lol. Do you find scouring makes clothing rough? Just to be clear.. I have alum powder in the house but alum acetate is a different substance - correct?
Btw - the color and vibrancy from the vinegar to make it pop is gorgeous!!
@@12lovelight Haha! Time is definitely your friend with natural dyeing and prep is everything 😊 I use naturally dyed fiber for my art practice, not for my wardrobe (yet!), so I have not experienced how scouring might feel on clothes. However, I know professional dyers in the garment industry swear by scouring, so I would assume it is not too rough. Having said that, if you worried about it, I would say simply give it a good wash in the machine.
For mordants, if you have alum powder at home, it is most likely aluminum potassium sulfate. Aluminum acetate is a more finely processed version that is the best mordant for cotton. However, you can certainly use alum powder on cotton and it will help with the bond. I just did that with some cotton ribbon and the dye bonded beautifully. I am a big fan of using materials that are easy to access and available already in your home. Let's make this as easy as possible!
@@12lovelight It is a super pretty shift for sure! You can also add alum powder to the dye itself and it should brighten the color too 😉
Is that permanent colour for cloth??
Hibiscus is a sensitive dye that has a fugitive quality and will change & fade over time. If you want to work with a more stable color to achieve pinks & reds, you should try an ancient dye source like cochineal.
Can you teach me the process ??
How permanent colour on cloth??
@@sonalimukhopadhyay2077 I am currently releasing videos on cochineal. You can find them in my library over the past few weeks and will continue with cochineal for the next few weeks. The most important step in working with natural color is properly washing and mordanting your fiber. If you do this, you will have very long lasting color with cochineal.
Great video! But when I try to dye my papers with hibiscus (both tea and dried flowers, alum mordant and no mordant, vinegar), they always turn out blue! Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for watching, Shanti! I wonder if your paper is not pH neutral and has a more alkaline composition? Have you tried testing different papers? I've read that archival & acid-free papers use alkaline compounds to help for longevity, so it is possible your hibiscus is interacting with this since it is also pH sensitive. You could potentially add more vinegar or lemon to your hibiscus dye to push the acidity to see if that makes a difference. It can be somewhat mysterious, so keep experimenting 💕
There actually is a native hardy hibiscus that grows in northern climates, called Rose of Sharon. It would probably work as well!
Wow...I never knew! Thanks so much for sharing this flower with us. I will have to see if it is local to me in the PNW 🌺
Hibiscus dye fugitive or not
Hi Asha 🌺 Hibiscus can be very sensitive to light, so it is often considered fugitive. If you want the potential to keep the color longer, you can help by using a mordant on your textile and caring for your fiber as you would with delicates - hand wash in cold water, air dry out of the sun, etc. I have had fiber dyed with plant matter that is considered fugitive where the color has lasted for years. I like to think of natural color as living and breathing, and try to celebrate its ever-changing beauty even as it fades 💗